The Ruins of Rome: A Byzantine Collpase Timeline

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Eparkhos

Eparkhos

Banned
Ruins of Rome Title Card.png


Before the Fall:
The Venetian Expedition of 1280 (Kriti)
The First Genoese-Mangyup War (1280) (Gothia)

The Rhomano-Angevin War:
The Fall of Berat and the Battle of Tzanoupli (April-June 1281) (Makedonia and Thrake)
The Night They Drove the Tetragram Down (June-July 1281) (Thrake)
The Eighth Battle of Adrianopolis (July-November 1281) (Thrake)
The War in the West (June 1281) (Makedonia)
The War in the Morea, Part I (May 1281)
The War in the Morea, Part II (May-Augsut 1281)
Ashes
The Post-War Successors (November 1281)​

​


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The Venetian Expedition of 1280
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image.jpeg

The Venetian Fortifications of Khania, c.1400

On the night of 17 December, 1279, Basileus Mikhaēl VIII of the Byzantine Empire died of a heart attack in his sleep in the Blakharnae Palace in Konstantinoupoli. The next morning, his eighteen-year-old son Andronikos is crowned basileus in the Hagia Sophia, as Basileus Andronikos II. While Mikhaēl was a skilled general, Andronikos was far from it. Rumors of military incompetency dogged him every where he went, and so in 1280 he decided to prove his ability to command troops by leading an expedition to retake Krítí from the Venetians. He assembled a force of 10,000 men in Thessalonika, stripping the defenses of the Thrakian cities to bolster his army. Andronikos and the Krítan Expedition launched from Europe on 24 July 1280.

The Rhomans landed four miles to the west of Khandax on 11 August. The force split in half, with the emperor marching on the Venetian capital while his commander Ioannes Tarkhaneiotes led the other half against the fortress of Khania. Both sieges had begun by the end of August, but Giovanni Licario, the Rhoman admiral, decided to withdraw to the Morea before the autumn currents were too strong to sail across to Hellas. The Venetians, however, had no such concerns, and the day that the Rhomans sailed away a ship was sent to Modon. The Modonese commander, Marco Polo, takes the entire garrison of 3,000 men and launches a relief expedition.

Polo lands his force in an inlet eleven miles to the east of Khania. He night-marches across the Krítan hinterland and arrives outside the Rhoman siege lines with the sun at his and his army’s backs on the morning of 18 September. They sweep into the Rhoman camp and set fire to the baggage. The garrison sallies out and hits the confused Rhoman lines from behind at the same time, pincering them. The Rhomans route, losing over 4,000 men in the chaos while the few survivors flee into the countryside. Polo then leaves a skeleton garrison in Khania, marching east with 6,000 men. Word of the Rhoman defeat spread before Polo’s army, and Andronikos began to dig a defensive trench around his lines.

However, Georgios Akropolites, one of Andronikos’ senior advisors, convinces him to withdraw as the infamous Aegean autumn currents would make it impossible to retreat if they waited. A ship was sent for Licario, who duly arrived outside of Khandax on 24 September. It took the Rhomans two days to evacuate, with Polo’s army arriving in the hills to the south on the second day.

But on 2 October a storm kicks up and slams the fleet, sinking a third of it and killing 2,000 of the Rhomans. On 9 October the tattered remains of the fleet arrive in Thessalonika with only a third of its original force. Andronikos dismisses the survivors and rides back to Konstantinopolis, shamed. Tarkhaneiotes is imprisoned on Kerkyra, but escapes in May 1281 in the chaos from Charles of Anjou’s invasion…​
 
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Albert Blake

Eparkhos_Ton_Trapezous said:
I've gotten my personal life together and since I have some free time on my hands, A New Alexiad Redux has begun. Updates will probably be daily, but there may be an occasional one or two day skip. This one focuses less on Alexios Philanthropenos and more on the decline and fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire.

@Albert Blake , @Some Bloke, @Goldensilver81 @Colonel flagg, @Sceonn, @Basileus_Komnenos, @trajen777, @AntonioBarbarian, @Fortuna, @FesteringSpore, @Foadar, @jjstraub4, @Miguel Lanius, @Marse Lee (Those are just the people who commented, I'm not intentionally snubbing anyone)

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The Venetian Expedition of 1280
.View attachment 487842
The Venetian Fortifications of Khania, c.1400

On the night of 17 December, 1279, Basileus Mikhaēl VIII of the Byzantine Empire died of a heart attack in his sleep in the Blakharnae Palace in Konstantinoupoli. The next morning, his eighteen-year-old son Andronikos is crowned basileus in the Hagia Sophia, as Basileus Andronikos II. While Mikhaēl was a skilled general, Andronikos was far from it. Rumors of military incompetency dogged him every where he went, and so in 1280 he decided to prove his ability to command troops by leading an expedition to retake Krítí from the Venetians. He assembled a force of 10,000 men in Thessalonika, stripping the defenses of the Thrakian cities to bolster his army. Andronikos and the Krítan Expedition launched from Europe on 24 July 1280.

The Rhomans landed four miles to the west of Khandax on 11 August. The force split in half, with the emperor marching on the Venetian capital while his commander Ioannes Tarkhaneiotes led the other half against the fortress of Khania. Both sieges had begun by the end of August, but Giovanni Licario, the Rhoman admiral, decided to withdraw to the Morea before the autumn currents were too strong to sail across to Hellas. The Venetians, however, had no such concerns, and the day that the Rhomans sailed away a ship was sent to Modon. The Modonese commander, Marco Polo, takes the entire garrison of 3,000 men and launches a relief expedition.

Polo lands his force in an inlet eleven miles to the east of Khania. He night-marches across the Krítan hinterland and arrives outside the Rhoman siege lines with the sun at his and his army’s backs on the morning of 18 September. They sweep into the Rhoman camp and set fire to the baggage. The garrison sallies out and hits the confused Rhoman lines from behind at the same time, pincering them. The Rhomans route, losing over 4,000 men in the chaos while the few survivors flee into the countryside. Polo then leaves a skeleton garrison in Khania, marching east with 6,000 men. Word of the Rhoman defeat spread before Polo’s army, and Andronikos began to dig a defensive trench around his lines.

However, Georgios Akropolites, one of Andronikos’ senior advisors, convinces him to withdraw as the infamous Aegean autumn currents would make it impossible to retreat if they waited. A ship was sent for Licario, who duly arrived outside of Khandax on 24 September. It took the Rhomans two days to evacuate, with Polo’s army arriving in the hills to the south on the second day.

But on 2 October a storm kicks up and slams the fleet, sinking a third of it and killing 2,000 of the Rhomans. On 9 October the tattered remains of the fleet arrive in Thessalonika with only a third of its original force. Andronikos dismisses the survivors and rides back to Konstantinopolis, shamed. Tarkhaneiotes is imprisoned on Kerkyra, but escapes in May 1281 in the chaos from Charles of Anjou’s invasion…
Click to expand...
Wait I’m an idiot, it’s really a Palaiologos screw. Just make sure to brutally kill Venice and all is right.
 
Eparkhos

Eparkhos

Banned
Albert Blake said:
Sweet Christ, please tell me a successor state (and no, the Turks don’t count!) will continue the legacy of Byzantium.
Click to expand...

Multiple successor states, actually. And even baring the direct successors of the Palaiolgoi, there's still the Trapezuntine Empire, the Principality of Mangyup and the Despotate of Epirus.
 
Eparkhos

Eparkhos

Banned
Albert Blake said:
Cool, where is Mangyup anyway? Hopefully the Turks Hellenise to some degree so we don’t get two Turkeys.
Click to expand...

Mangyup is the short-hand version of the Principality of Theodoros in Mangyup.

P.S. On further research, there's also a small Komnenid Principality in Central Georgia that could be interesting.
 
DanMcCollum

DanMcCollum

Wow, a destruction of Byzantium tl. Considering the Byzophilia of this board, you sir are brave :D

I look forward to seeing how this plays out :)
 
The First Genoese-Mangyupian War (1280)
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    • Eparkhos

    Eparkhos

    Banned
    Goldensilver81 said:
    Man i cougth up with this and it's atill amazing
    Click to expand...
    I'm sorry, I can't understand what you said.

    Sorry for not getting it out last night, in all honesty I fell asleep.
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    The First Genoese-Mangyupian War
    image.jpeg

    A Mural in Mangyup showing Alexandros II killing Nicolo Zaccaria

    Over the course of the 1270s, relations between the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Pisa had deteriorated to a quasi-war, with the noble houses of both republics waging a furious private war against each other. In 1279, the Zaccaria family of Genoa was given a monoply over all trade in the Black Sea. This enraged the Zaccaria’s Pisan rivals, the Saraceno. In May 1279, as soon as the Mediterranean was navigable, Jacopo Saraceno sailed from Pisa to the port of Kalamita in the Crimea, where he sought an audience with the Basilopais of Mangyup, Alexandros II Sovojov.

    The Mangyupians had their own issues with the Genoese. Since the days of the Angeloi the Genoese had been colonizing the Crimea, driving the Mangyupians off of their own land. All but one of the strategic harbors, Kalamita, had been annexed by the Italians, and they were still advancing on the aforementioned city. During the reign of Alexandros II’s father, Theophylakt, the Mangyupians had attempted to drive away the Italians, but in a single battle in 1253 they had been utterly routed. But the Saraceno’s offer of aid against the Zaccaria was enticing. Their combined forces would be more than enough to destroy the few Genoese in the Black Sea before they could bring reinforcements, and the Italians were notoriously poor at fighting in the hinterland…

    In April 1280, twelve Pisan ships pass through the Marmora and into the Black Sea. The Mangyupians strike in the same month, with a force of 150 men appearing outside the walls of Cembala on 27 April and ~300 Kipchak auxiliaries outside of Caffa on the next day. The strategies in both sieges are identical. A small group of men swim around the walls and into the cities, free the slaves in the massive slave markets (~15,000 in Cembala and ~20,000 in Caffa) and run like hell. The rioting slaves slaughter the Genoese, and after a few days the Mangyupians offer them either passage back to their homelands after war has ended or paid service on the captured Genoese galleys. Since many of the slaves had been traded from beyond the Golden Horde, about 5,000 volunteer for the galleys. The Mangyupians tear down the walls, then advance on the other cities.

    On 9 May, the Genoese squadron of 26 ships meets the Mangyupian fleet of 16 a mile of the coast from Caulita. The Genoese easily defeat the Mangyupian vanguard, but when the Italians attempt to board the Mangyupian ships they are swarmed by angry ex-slaves who liberate the rowers on the Italian ships. Only three such ships are taken, but when the Mangyupians begin using the catapults to lob the flaming, screaming bodies of the officers at the other ships they back water. Four Genoese are sunk and three captured and the Mangyupians lose five ships, but Caulita surrenders on the condition that they be allowed to evacuate. However, the city's garrison commander, Niccolo Zaccaria, attempts to assault the incoming Mangyupians, only to be stabbed through the neck by Alexandros himself. By 11 May the city is in Mangyupian hands, leaving Soldaia as the sole Genoese outpost in the Crimea.

    Soldaia was one of the great ports of the Medieval World, with a population of about 30,000, a large slave market and a garrison of 5,000. Its walls stood at twenty-five feet tall and its harbor was chained across. It had enough food and water to last its citizens for two years, and the slaves would not be a concern for much longer. In light of the suspiciously quick capture of the other Genoese cities, Benedetto Zaccaria ordered every slave in the city to be loaded onto ships and sailed out into the mouth of the harbor, where they were burned to the waterline and sunk to prevent any attempt to storm the city by sea.

    The first Mangyupian forces arrive outside of the city on 21 May, with the entire Mangyupian army of 8,000 being drawn up by 17 June. The allied fleets were anchored out of the city by the same time. On 28 June, the ten bravest men in the city attempt to break out of the city to bring relief from Galata. Two make it, and on 3 August 22 Genoese ships appear behind the allied fleet. In a four-day running battle along the coast of the Crimea the two sides decimate themselves, with only 3 Genoese and 6 Allied ships surviving. The triumphant return of the Allied fleet to their positions off of Soldaia breaks the defenders’ morale and they surrender on 8 August. Most of the Soldaians are ethnic Goths, and as such only the 10,000 Genoese are forcibly removed and marched overland to Vosboros, from which they are ferried over to Tmutaraken    .

    Alexandros declares himself King of Mangyup-Gothia on 9 August, moving his capital to Soldaia. The Saracenos are given quarters in Soldaia, Caulita and Kalamita. The Genoese counter-attack is delayed, first by the massive Veneto-Ragusan fleet in the Bosporus and then by a war with Pisa. Mangyup-Gothia is safe. For now...
    ​
     
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  • Index
    • The Rhomano-Angevin War, Pt.1 (April-June 1281)
  • Index
    • Eparkhos

    Eparkhos

    Banned
    The Rhomano-Angevin War (Phase 1)
    image.jpeg

    The statue of Philip de Anjou above his grave in Taranto. His account of the Rhomano-Angevin War is one of the few reliable sources from the Fifty Years' Anarchy

    Charles of Anjou had been laying the foundation for the restoration of the Latin Empire since 1276. By 1280 he had forced the various Frankokratia to recognize him as their overlord, and in 1279 he had forced Despot Nikephoros of Epirus to bend the knee to him, solidifying his control over the western Balkans. He had assembled a force of 4,000 knights and 18,000 infantry in Brindisi in the spring of 1280 in preparation for an amphibious assault on the Rhoman Empire. However, his contacts in the Venetian government had informed him of the Rhoman assault on Krítí, which led Charles to believe that it would be best to wait another year to let the debacle play out. As word of the Rhoman disaster spread, the invasion was scheduled for spring 1281.

    The plan was to launch a two-pronged assault, with Hugo de Sully landing in Albania with 2,000 knights and 6,000 infantry and advancing down the Via Egnatia to Thessalonika whilst Charles and the rest of the force sailed around Hellas to land in Thrake.

    On 1 May 1281, de Sully and his forces land in Durazzo. They advance up the valley of the Seman River, arriving outside of Berat on 6 May. The city is positioned on the peak of a hill above the Seman, making any passage beyond it nigh-on impossible, but is held by only 70 men under the command of the ex-Megas Domestikos Mikhaēl Tarkhaneiotes and is severely undersupplied. De Sully decides that the time it would take to starve out the defenders would be too long a delay, and on 7 May the first assault is launched. 400 Albanian conscripts charge up the hill, only to be cut down and fall back. Over the next four days Berat is under almost constant attack, with many Angevins dying before the walls are finally breached. As the sun dawns on 12 May, Tarkhaneiotes and the few Rhoman survivors stand in the breach to face the last attack. The Angevins charge one last time and roll over the Rhomans, finally taking the city. Tarkhaneiotes supposedly dies in the breach, charging at the oncoming Angevins, sword and hand and the famous cry of “Θα βάψουμε το κόκκινο έδαφος με Λατινικό αίμα!*” on his lips. The Angevins lose almost 1000 men in the assault. De Sully moves on on the 14th, pushing on down the Via Egnatia towards their end goal of Thessalonika.

    King Charles launches from Brindisi on 3 May with a flotilla of 70 troop-carriers and an escort of 40 Venetian and Anconan warships. They sail south, making a brief landing in the Morea to drop off 3,000 men to retake Mystras from the Rhomans on 12 May. The Angevin armada meets no resistance until they approach the Propontis on 29 May, when a small Rhomano-Genoese force attempts to drive them off near Lemnos. The allied force is encircled by the Venetians+ and either sunk or captured. The prisoners are executed to a man and they press on, undeterred.

    Charles and his army land in Abydos on 30 May, spending two days landing the entire force before marching towards Konstantinopolis. Andronikos had believed that Charles had been bound for the Holy Land, and as such had been caught off guard when news of the Battle of Lemnos had reached him. He had been able to gather about 9,000 men, mostly militia and constables. On 31 May he dispatched the young Nikephoros Philanthropenos§ to Mesembria to bring the governor and his men as reinforcements. He instead tries to depose the governor in a court coup, is counter-couped by the province’s entire population, has his left eye cut out and is thrown in Mesembria’s oubliette. Yes, that will be important later.

    Getting back to the point, Andronikos and his cobbled together force march against the Angevins. The two sides meet outside the town of Tzanoupli on 8 June. A small ridge, the ruins of an aqueduct, runs between Tzanoupli and an ancient Roman cistern a quarter mile away. The emperor leaves 4,000 men in the city while he and the rest form a semi-functioning phalanx on the ridge. Charles camps a mile away and deploys his forces in the stereotypical cavalry-infantry-cavalry three times as wide as the Rhoman line.

    There are two accounts of the battle: That of Georgios Akropolites, which is considered to be anti-Palaiologan propaganda, and that of Philip de Anjou, which is much more reliable as Philip led the Angevin right flank at the battle.

    In Akropolites’ account, the Angevins began to advance in the early morning, the cavalry sweeping out in a pincer movement, swinging around the Rhoman line and Tzanoupli itself. This caused Amdronikos to panic and flee for his life, only to be run through by the future Charles II during his flight. This broke what little morale the Rhomans had and they all threw down their weapons and fled, but most would be run down because you don’t run from cavalry.

    In Philip de Anjou’s account, the Angevin cavalry began to advance before the dawn, setting up mock camps on either side of Tzanoupli. The seemingly sudden appearance of two reinforcing armies caused most of the Rhoman force to break and run. The few remaining Rhomans, supposedly knowing that they were doomed, launched a suicide charge against the main Angevin line. The few mounted men manage to push so deep into the Angevin left flank that Andronikos II dies in single combat with Charles the Younger. Incompetent as he was, Andronikos died well, sword in hand.

    By both accounts, the Battle of Tzanoupli lasted less than a day and resulted in a complete Rhoman route. The Rhomans lost somewhere around 2,000 dead with the rest of the army deserting, while the Angevins lost “fewer than there were buildings in the town.”Philip de Anjou, “The Sicilian Chronicle The Rhomans had no forces that could make it to the capital before the Angevins did, and the emperor, Mikhaēl IX, was a three-year old. There were next to no reserves in the capital and the Venetian fleet had already blockaded the Golden Horn, and as such the regency counter was facing a bleak situation as the Latins approached the city of Konstantinos…​

    *”We shall dye the earth red with Latin blood!”
    +The small Anconan contingent had split off at Khios and stormed the unguarded Genoese outpost at Phokaia
    §The (possible, believed to be) illegitimate son of Mikhaēl Tarkhaneiotes and future saint.
     

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  • Index

    • Albert Blake

    Eparkhos_Ton_Trapezous said:
    The Rhomano-Angevin War (Phase 1)
    View attachment 488281
    The statue of Philip de Anjou above his grave in Taranto. His account of the Rhomano-Angevin War is one of the few reliable sources from the Fifty Years' Anarchy

    Charles of Anjou had been laying the foundation for the restoration of the Latin Empire since 1276. By 1280 he had forced the various Frankokratia to recognize him as their overlord, and in 1279 he had forced Despot Nikephoros of Epirus to bend the knee to him, solidifying his control over the western Balkans. He had assembled a force of 4,000 knights and 18,000 infantry in Brindisi in the spring of 1280 in preparation for an amphibious assault on the Rhoman Empire. However, his contacts in the Venetian government had informed him of the Rhoman assault on Krítí, which led Charles to believe that it would be best to wait another year to let the debacle play out. As word of the Rhoman disaster spread, the invasion was scheduled for spring 1281.

    The plan was to launch a two-pronged assault, with Hugo de Sully landing in Albania with 2,000 knights and 6,000 infantry and advancing down the Via Egnatia to Thessalonika whilst Charles and the rest of the force sailed around Hellas to land in Thrake.

    On 1 May 1281, de Sully and his forces land in Durazzo. They advance up the valley of the Seman River, arriving outside of Berat on 6 May. The city is positioned on the peak of a hill above the Seman, making any passage beyond it nigh-on impossible, but is held by only 70 men under the command of the ex-Megas Domestikos Mikhaēl Tarkhaneiotes and is severely undersupplied. De Sully decides that the time it would take to starve out the defenders would be too long a delay, and on 7 May the first assault is launched. 400 Albanian conscripts charge up the hill, only to be cut down and fall back. Over the next four days Berat is under almost constant attack, with many Angevins dying before the walls are finally breached. As the sun dawns on 12 May, Tarkhaneiotes and the few Rhoman survivors stand in the breach to face the last attack. The Angevins charge one last time and roll over the Rhomans, finally taking the city. Tarkhaneiotes supposedly dies in the breach, charging at the oncoming Angevins, sword and hand and the famous cry of “Θα βάψουμε το κόκκινο έδαφος με Λατινικό αίμα!*” on his lips. The Angevins lose almost 1000 men in the assault. De Sully moves on on the 14th, pushing on down the Via Egnatia towards their end goal of Thessalonika.

    King Charles launches from Brindisi on 3 May with a flotilla of 70 troop-carriers and an escort of 40 Venetian and Anconan warships. They sail south, making a brief landing in the Morea to drop off 3,000 men to retake Mystras from the Rhomans on 12 May. The Angevin armada meets no resistance until they approach the Propontis on 29 May, when a small Rhomano-Genoese force attempts to drive them off near Lemnos. The allied force is encircled by the Venetians+ and either sunk or captured. The prisoners are executed to a man and they press on, undeterred.

    Charles and his army land in Abydos on 30 May, spending two days landing the entire force before marching towards Konstantinopolis. Andronikos had believed that Charles had been bound for the Holy Land, and as such had been caught off guard when news of the Battle of Lemnos had reached him. He had been able to gather about 9,000 men, mostly militia and constables. On 31 May he dispatched the young Nikephoros Philanthropenos§ to Mesembria to bring the governor and his men as reinforcements. He instead tries to depose the governor in a court coup, is counter-couped by the province’s entire population, has his left eye cut out and is thrown in Mesembria’s oubliette. Yes, that will be important later.

    Getting back to the point, Andronikos and his cobbled together force march against the Angevins. The two sides meet outside the town of Tzanoupli on 8 June. A small ridge, the ruins of an aqueduct, runs between Tzanoupli and an ancient Roman cistern a quarter mile away. The emperor leaves 4,000 men in the city while he and the rest form a semi-functioning phalanx on the ridge. Charles camps a mile away and deploys his forces in the stereotypical cavalry-infantry-cavalry three times as wide as the Rhoman line.

    There are two accounts of the battle: That of Georgios Akropolites, which is considered to be anti-Palaiologan propaganda, and that of Philip de Anjou, which is much more reliable as Philip led the Angevin right flank at the battle.

    In Akropolites’ account, the Angevins began to advance in the early morning, the cavalry sweeping out in a pincer movement, swinging around the Rhoman line and Tzanoupli itself. This caused Amdronikos to panic and flee for his life, only to be run through by the future Charles II during his flight. This broke what little morale the Rhomans had and they all threw down their weapons and fled, but most would be run down because you don’t run from cavalry.

    In Philip de Anjou’s account, the Angevin cavalry began to advance before the dawn, setting up mock camps on either side of Tzanoupli. The seemingly sudden appearance of two reinforcing armies caused most of the Rhoman force to break and run. The few remaining Rhomans, supposedly knowing that they were doomed, launched a suicide charge against the main Angevin line. The few mounted men manage to push so deep into the Angevin left flank that Andronikos II dies in single combat with Charles the Younger. Incompetent as he was, Andronikos died well, sword in hand.

    By both accounts, the Battle of Tzanoupli lasted less than a day and resulted in a complete Rhoman route. The Rhomans lost somewhere around 2,000 dead with the rest of the army deserting, while the Angevins lost “fewer than there were buildings in the town.”Philip de Anjou, “The Sicilian Chronicle The Rhomans had no forces that could make it to the capital before the Angevins did, and the emperor, Mikhaēl IX, was a three-year old. There were next to no reserves in the capital and the Venetian fleet had already blockaded the Golden Horn, and as such the regency counter was facing a bleak situation as the Latins approached the city of Konstantinos…

    *”We shall dye the earth red with Latin blood!”
    +The small Anconan contingent had split off at Khios and stormed the unguarded Genoese outpost at Phokaia
    §The (possible, believed to be) illegitimate son of Mikhaēl Tarkhaneiotes and future saint.
    Click to expand...
    This is not good for the Byzantines
     

    Some Bloke

    More, longer lasting ERE splinter states? Interesting. In the short time it looks like Constantinople comprehensively screwed.
     
    The Night They Drove the Tetragram Down (Angevin War, Pt.2 - June-July 1281)
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    • Eparkhos

    Eparkhos

    Banned
    The Night They Drove the Tetragram Down (Rhomano-Angevin War, Pt.2)
    eug%C3%A8ne_ferdinand_victor_delacroix_012-jpg.488426

    Regent Georgios Pakhymeres begs Charles of Anjou to spare Mikhaēl IX

    After the Battle of Tzanoupli, the Angevins advanced rapidly towards Konstantinopolis, the Latin vanguard appearing outside the Theodosian Walls on 12 June. Charles' advance was slower than the march to Tzanoupli, as the forced march had exhausted the army, but the rest of the army was still outside the Theodosian Walls on 15 June. Construction of siege works began immediately, the Venetians sweeping into the Bosporus on the same day. By 19 June, the districts against the walls were deafened by the whistle of flying boulders, followed by the boom of their impact into the walls.

    Inside the capital, all was chaos. The death of Andronikos had left the young Mikhaēl IX under the regency of his mother, Anna ton Ungroia, Andronikos' prime minister Theodoros Mouzalon and the Megas Domestikos, Ioannes Synadenos. All three hated each other and believed that they should be the sole regent. As such, as soon as news of Andronikos' death had arrived in the capital, their partisans had begun to riot against each other. Anna expelled Mouzalon and Synadenos from the Porphrygention Palace, Mouzalon setting up shop in the Great Palace and Synadenos in the Palace of Botaneiates. The three were absolutely unable to compromise, and both men attempted to abduct the emperor at least twice. On 18 June, some of Anna's partisans stormed the Great Palace and lynched Mouzalon on the steps of the Hagia Sophia itself. This spurred Synadenos into action, and an hour after sunset on the same day the Porphrygention is set alight by naphtha. Anna and her advisors flee, only to be mowed down a la A Fistful of Dollars by Synadenos' men. He declares himself regent at dawn on the 19th. He then begins to reinforce the walls, moving men to the sections hit the hardest by the Angevin assault.

    Charles' forces had little success, finding the ancient walls as difficult to assault as every army since the Avars had. After eight assaults between the 15th and the 21st are turned back, they settle in for a long siege. Philip de Anjou began searching the surrounding countryside for any way to get in while the trebuchets continue to pound. On 8 July he finds an inscription in a small village dating to the reign of Ioustinianos II, commemorating his entry into the capital via aqueduct. Philp approaches his father and explains that the Aqueduct of Valens may be their way into the city. Charles orders round the clock assaults and trebuchet fire to cover the sound of mining in the aqueduct.

    The supplies in the city began to run low, and by 5 July there were food riots in the lower-class parts of the city. On the 7th, Synadenos is lynched and replaced by the tutor of the emperor's uncle, Georgios Pakhymeres. Yet another riot starts as the partisans of Synadenos attempt to install his son as regent.

    On 10 July, Philip and his men charge out of the aqueduct and storm the Third Military Gate. They are unable to get it open, but Pakhymeres sees the writing on the wall and agrees to surrender the city in exchange for clemency for the members of his government. He completely ignores Mikhaēl, but a fictional description of him begging Charles to spare the emperor spread widely and was the source of many paintings. He leaves the city on 11 July, leaving it to the victorious Charles.

    On 12 July, Philip d'Courtenay, is crowned as Latin Emperor in the Hagia Sophia by Charles' personal chaplain. The Venetians then immediately demand that Philip pay the money that his father owed them, threatening to sack the city again. Charles threatens to burn Venice to the ground and they back off, retiring to the Prince's Island which they rapidly sack. However, not every Rhoman force has been destroyed....​
     
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    • Albert Blake

    Eparkhos_Ton_Trapezous said:
    The Night They Drove the Tetragram Down (Rhomano-Angevin War, Pt.2)
    eug%C3%A8ne_ferdinand_victor_delacroix_012-jpg.488426

    Regent Georgios Pakhymeres begs Charles of Anjou to spare Mikhaēl IX

    After the Battle of Tzanoupli, the Angevins advanced rapidly towards Konstantinopolis, the Latin vanguard appearing outside the Theodosian Walls on 12 June. Charles' advance was slower than the march to Tzanoupli, as the forced march had exhausted the army, but the rest of the army was still outside the Theodosian Walls on 15 June. Construction of siege works began immediately, the Venetians sweeping into the Bosporus on the same day. By 19 June, the districts against the walls were deafened by the whistle of flying boulders, followed by the boom of their impact into the walls.

    Inside the capital, all was chaos. The death of Andronikos had left the young Mikhaēl IX under the regency of his mother, Anna ton Ungroia, Andronikos' prime minister Theodoros Mouzalon and the Megas Domestikos, Ioannes Synadenos. All three hated each other and believed that they should be the sole regent. As such, as soon as news of Andronikos' death had arrived in the capital, their partisans had begun to riot against each other. Anna expelled Mouzalon and Synadenos from the Porphrygention Palace, Mouzalon setting up shop in the Great Palace and Synadenos in the Palace of Botaneiates. The three were absolutely unable to compromise, and both men attempted to abduct the emperor at least twice. On 18 June, some of Anna's partisans stormed the Great Palace and lynched Mouzalon on the steps of the Hagia Sophia itself. This spurred Synadenos into action, and an hour after sunset on the same day the Porphrygention is set alight by naphtha. Anna and her advisors flee, only to be mowed down a la A Fistful of Dollars by Synadenos' men. He declares himself regent at dawn on the 19th. He then begins to reinforce the walls, moving men to the sections hit the hardest by the Angevin assault.

    Charles' forces had little success, finding the ancient walls as difficult to assault as every army since the Avars had. After eight assaults between the 15th and the 21st are turned back, they settle in for a long siege. Philip de Anjou began searching the surrounding countryside for any way to get in while the trebuchets continue to pound. On 8 July he finds an inscription in a small village dating to the reign of Ioustinianos II, commemorating his entry into the capital via aqueduct. Philp approaches his father and explains that the Aqueduct of Valens may be their way into the city. Charles orders round the clock assaults and trebuchet fire to cover the sound of mining in the aqueduct.

    The supplies in the city began to run low, and by 5 July there were food riots in the lower-class parts of the city. On the 7th, Synadenos is lynched and replaced by the tutor of the emperor's uncle, Georgios Pakhymeres. Yet another riot starts as the partisans of Synadenos attempt to install his son as regent.

    On 10 July, Philip and his men charge out of the aqueduct and storm the Third Military Gate. They are unable to get it open, but Pakhymeres sees the writing on the wall and agrees to surrender the city in exchange for clemency for the members of his government. He completely ignores Mikhaēl, but a fictional description of him begging Charles to spare the emperor spread widely and was the source of many paintings. He leaves the city on 11 July, leaving it to the victorious Charles.

    On 12 July, Philip d'Courtenay, is crowned as Latin Emperor in the Hagia Sophia by Charles' personal chaplain. The Venetians then immediately demand that Philip pay the money that his father owed them, threatening to sack the city again. Charles threatens to burn Venice to the ground and they back off, retiring to the Prince's Island which they rapidly sack. However, not every Rhoman force has been destroyed....
    Click to expand...
    Nooooooo. What happens to Mikhael?
     
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